How Serviced Offices May Hold the Key for Businesses in a Rapidly Changing Economic Environment

Are There Positive Economic Sectors That May Experience Growth in 2018?

PWC’s UK Economic Outlook (published March 2018) showed that they are predicting a modest growth of 1.5%. The weaker pound is actually making UK exports attractive overseas, improving manufacturing in the North and Midlands. The competitive pound may boost inbound Tourism as the UK appears cheaper for Foreign visitors. The Bank of England did not raise Base Rate in May as was largely expected, but predictions are that interest rates may rise in August. PWC predicts that automation may impact retail jobs, but the cost savings of automation in businesses may increase consumer spending with cheaper products. There may be more jobs in areas that cannot be automated, such as Health and Personal Care.

London is still expected to experience economic growth in 2018, but less sharply than in previous years. So, there’s lots of positive news in 2018, but it always pays to be cautious in Business.

Could Scale-Ups Save Us from an Economic Downturn?

A ‘scaleup’ is an enterprise with average annual growth in employees or turnover greater than 20 percent per annum over a three year period, and with more than 10 employees at the beginning of the period.

Irene Graham, CEO of Scaleup Institute stated in the Scale-Up Institute Review 2017 that the Institute ‘is working closely across the UK with corporates, financiers, educators, policymakers and local leaders to turn their attention to practical actions which can overcome the challenges faced by scaleups in their local communities’. There is also a government Scale Up Champion, Margot James MP, who is looking to ‘address barriers to business growth and identify potential opportunities’. If you are a Scale Up, you may receive more support in 2018 than you have in previous years!

Companies Can Still Mitigate Risks, Cut Costs and Increase Profits As They Grow

The benefit of a Serviced Office is that they offer flexibility both in periods of Economic growth and slowdown. You have the potential to upsize when your business enters a growth spurt, by renting more workstations as and when you recruit more staff. You could also move your entire office to a cheaper part of town when you are in a cost reduction phase of your business development cycle.

In his White Paper written for BNP Paribas Real Estate, Stefan Hoejmose stated that another benefit of a Serviced Office is that on your balance sheet, the office rental can be put under ‘Operating Costs’. Plus, as they are fully functional and come fully equipped with computers, desks and other equipment, your capital costs are also reduced. This could boost your profits by reducing your business costs.

It’s not just small or medium-sized businesses that can benefit from the flexibility of Serviced Offices. Large companies could use Serviced Offices by running new projects away from their main offices, with the type of space, location and facilities required is specific to the new enterprise being developed.

At Office Experts, we work to understand you, and your business identity, in order to offer expert consultancy to deal with unexpected changes in your business requirements, due to Economic changes.

Our experience and expertise have enabled us to develop contacts within London's vast property networks. We can locate, and give you access to exclusive areas in London, as well as 1400 other serviced office spaces around the UK. As key players in the industry, we can negotiate preferable rates to suit any budget.

https://www.pwc.co.uk/economic-services/ukeo/pwc-ukeo-march18-full-report.pdf

http://www.scaleupinstitute.org.uk/scaleup-review-2017/

http://www.portalgroup.uk.com/library/files/white-papers/MOSwhitepaper.pdf

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/real-estate/deloitte-uk-london-business-footprint-serviced-offices-sector.pdf